Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Lord of Population by Elizabeth Stephens

4 reviews

clearlyunhinged's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Cannibalism, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

kbairbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Speechless. Read this book. READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. Be careful. And pay attention to the rules of population and you MIGHT survive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Genocide, Medical content, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Rape, Colonisation, Confinement, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, War, Infidelity, Vomit, and Car accident

bookishbrenbren's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

It's complicated...

Let me start with the good: The first 50% of this book (what used to be book 1 in the population series) is amazing. Easily the best fantasy romance/paranormal romance/alien romance I've ever read. EASILY. The scene is set: a dark dystopia, pacific northwest, think of Cormac's The Road or The Walking Dead (sans zombies), gritty, survivalist, hard;  the characters are charming: independent, fierce, capable, out for revenge main character, allies with strong silent type; the love is natural: trials bring them together, chemistry builds, love and trust blossom, together they face the cruelties of this new world. The writing is pristine, amaze. 

Jump to 51%: eeeeeyikes. let me say, I did not see a single trigger warning for this book but there is definitely a sex scene in this which the main character does not consent to in advance. So what basically happens is,

LOML is captured, his long-lost brother whom I just met is obligated to rescue him, and I actually want to rescue him, so naturally, what do we do? we fuck each other. WHUT, plz... also there is simply no other way to characterize what he does to the MC beyond sexual assault.

and while I can go for the dubcon that comes with fated mates... noncon is a no-go for me, and I wish someone had told me beforehand. Anyways, this development means that this book (after 50%) is mired in two of my least favorite tropes:

cheating and love triangle

. Then, (really don't open this spoiler if you plan to read the book)

after like 200 pages where the love interest is just entirely absent, we get a short reunion where things don't really seem that peachy, our MC dies and comes back to life

meaning a third trope I really hate is included. 

So ultimately, I am just very conflicted about this book because the first half was so amazing (and also I just really love the writing) and the second half was so... not. Anyways, eep, I mostly came here to warn about the noncon scene. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Trafficking, Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

enji's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual violence, and Grief

Minor: Colonisation, Rape, Confinement, Alcohol, and Alcoholism